Miranda smiled with satisfaction. ‘Good. So when is your next day off?’

‘Th-the day after tomorrow,’ Ruby croaked.

‘Right, then what I want you to do is this: just carry on as if you are popping out for a few hours to do some shopping and meet me at the train station in Nuneaton at eleven o’clock. From there we’ll get a cab.’

‘You mean she’s in Nuneaton?’ Ruby asked incredulously.

‘On the outskirts, actually, but I won’t tell you any more for now. I told Aunt Hermione I was only popping in and I don’t want her saying that I’ve kept you from your work. But before I go, you couldn’t get me a cold drink, could you? I’m as dry as a bone.’

‘Of course.’ Ruby hurried off to the kitchen, wondering how on earth she was going to keep such news to herself until Friday, but she had promised Miranda and so, somehow, she had to.

She got a glass of water from the kitchen and returned quickly to the workroom, hoping to get a bit more information from Miranda. But to her surprise, the room was empty. For a while she just stood there, not sure what to make of her disappearance. But finally, she sat down again and took up her drawing pad. Somehow, she would have to behave as normally as she could for the next few days. But it was a small price to pay for finally being able to meet her real mother.

Despite her determination to behave normally, it was very hard to concentrate for the rest of the day and she found at dinner time that she couldn’t eat a thing. So as soon as she could, she pleaded a headache and took herself off for an early night, leaving Hermione with a thoughtful expression on her face. Ruby hadn’t been herself since Miranda had called that morning and she wondered if the girl had upset her. But then even if she had there was nothing she could do about it until Ruby confided in her, so she went back to what she had been doing and put it from her mind.